Use of Flowers in Hamlet
In Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Shakespeare relied on the audiences knowledge of flowers to portray messages in the play that may hold hidden meanings or dramatic irony. Ophelia is directly related to flowers throughout the play but most significantly in Act IV. Ophelia is thought to have gone mad in scene IV but there is some method to her madness. She was not just handing out flowers to people as a result of being mad, she used the flowers to express feelings that she could not otherwise say out loud. The following are some examples of Ophelia's use of flowers in the play.
Rosemary
Rosemary: "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray you, love, remember;" (Shakespeare, IV.5.173)
Ophelia hands to her brother, Laertes, rosemary. The leaves of a rosemary plant, even when picked, hold the plants "scent for an impressively long time, it was an emblem of memory and was sometimes given as a silent way of saying "Remember me" (Olsen). Ophelia makes it clear in this case that the rosemary she is handing to her brother is for the very purpose that it is significant for.
Pansies: "there is pansies, thats for thoughts" (Shakespeare, IV.5. 174-175)
In French pansy means "pensées", meaning "thoughts". That is why in the Elizabethan era the pansy was "symbolized [with] sadness, love, pensiveness, and tender feelings"(Olsen). Ophelia also hands pansies to Laertes in this act.
Ophelia hands to her brother, Laertes, rosemary. The leaves of a rosemary plant, even when picked, hold the plants "scent for an impressively long time, it was an emblem of memory and was sometimes given as a silent way of saying "Remember me" (Olsen). Ophelia makes it clear in this case that the rosemary she is handing to her brother is for the very purpose that it is significant for.
Pansies: "there is pansies, thats for thoughts" (Shakespeare, IV.5. 174-175)
In French pansy means "pensées", meaning "thoughts". That is why in the Elizabethan era the pansy was "symbolized [with] sadness, love, pensiveness, and tender feelings"(Olsen). Ophelia also hands pansies to Laertes in this act.
Flowers of fennel
"There's fennel for you, and columbines; there's ruse for you, and here's some for me, we may call it herb of grace o' Sundays: O, you must wear your rue with difference" (Shakespeare, IV.5. 178-181)
Fennel: Fennel "stands for flattery"(Shakespeare).
Columbines: Columbines stands "for faithfulness in wedlock"(Shakespeare). Ophelia directs this particular flower is to the king. The dramatic irony behind Ophelia giving this flower to Claudius is the fact that he was not faithful in wedlock because he "stole the love of his brothers wife"(Shakespeare). Ophelia uses this flower to takes a jab at the King, an example of how the language of flowers were used to avoid the strict rules of behaviour.
Rue: Rue is a "bitter tasting herb [and] may symbolize disdain"(folger) as well as repentance that is directed toward the Queen "and sorrow for her self"(Shakespeare). Ophelia is again taking a brave jab, this time directed toward the Queen but also giving the message to readers of the sorrow she has for herself.
Fennel: Fennel "stands for flattery"(Shakespeare).
Columbines: Columbines stands "for faithfulness in wedlock"(Shakespeare). Ophelia directs this particular flower is to the king. The dramatic irony behind Ophelia giving this flower to Claudius is the fact that he was not faithful in wedlock because he "stole the love of his brothers wife"(Shakespeare). Ophelia uses this flower to takes a jab at the King, an example of how the language of flowers were used to avoid the strict rules of behaviour.
Rue: Rue is a "bitter tasting herb [and] may symbolize disdain"(folger) as well as repentance that is directed toward the Queen "and sorrow for her self"(Shakespeare). Ophelia is again taking a brave jab, this time directed toward the Queen but also giving the message to readers of the sorrow she has for herself.
Canker Rose
Canker Rose: "The canker galls the infants of the spring / Too oft before their buttons be disclosed" (Shakespeare, 1.3.39-40). The scent of a canker rose is "not as sweet"(Olsen) as a red rose and it "could not be usefully distilled"(Olsen) into water and oils. Therefore, because of its inferior variety, the rose was named after "a kind of garden pest, the canker worm"(Olsen). Laertes is warning Ophelia of her relationship with Hamlet. He is warning her of the lusty desire as a canker worm that may "gall (break the skin)/which would hollow out her heart before it broke the surface"(shakespeare navigators). This gives imagery of disease working its way from the inside out.
Violet: "A violet in the youth of primy nature"(Shakespeare, 1.3.7.) Violets represent "faithfulness"(Shakespeare). Laertes is metaphorically speaking, comparing Hamlets love for Ophelia to a violet "that is quick to bloom, but quick to die"(shakespeare navigators). He is saying that Hamlets love is not real or very faithful.
Violet: "A violet in the youth of primy nature"(Shakespeare, 1.3.7.) Violets represent "faithfulness"(Shakespeare). Laertes is metaphorically speaking, comparing Hamlets love for Ophelia to a violet "that is quick to bloom, but quick to die"(shakespeare navigators). He is saying that Hamlets love is not real or very faithful.
Painting depicting Ophelia's death.
She drowns with the flower's
she was holding surrounding her
This painting was done by John Everett Millais in 1851-52. The floral attributes that belong to this painting also has meaning as they reflect act IV, scene 5 in the play. This painting reflects "Ophelia's innocent "blossoming" sexuality and (when she gives the flowers away) her own deflowering"(Cousins). She is surrounded by the flowers she is giving away in act IV scene 5.
